Alameda County Awarded $1,875,000 to Hire Veterans as Police Officers
Contact:Katherine Jolly, (510) 763-0370
Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-09) announced today that the Department of Justice COPS Office will award Alameda County $1,875,000 in Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program grants. This award will partially fund 15 law enforcement officer positions.
The COPS Hiring Program provides funding to address the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide. The Hiring Program grants go directly to law enforcement agencies to hire new as well as rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. A unique change for the 2012 program requires that all new officers hired under the grant must be military veterans that have served at least 180 days of active military service, any part of which occurred on or after September 11, 2001.
“This investment not only brings quality jobs to Alameda County, it also makes sure that these jobs go to veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which takes us one step closer to fulfilling our obligation to our local heroes,” said Rep. Lee. “I applaud the Department of Justice COPS Office for its commitment to Alameda County and the continued leadership in community policing and crime prevention efforts.”
This year’s Hiring Program grants provide 75 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for three years (36 months) for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions (including filling existing unfunded vacancies) or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date, as a result of local budget cuts. Any additional costs above the approved entry-level salaries and fringe benefits, up to $125,000, are the responsibility of the grantee agency.
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